Page 138 of Freed By the Witchbone Knife

Elle

Wouldn’t dare forget!

I smiled, shaking my head. Elle had been appropriately shocked when I called to tell her about the cave, Ambrose, and breaking the curse. But she’d screamed when I told her about our mating. Literally screamed so loud I had to hold the phone away from my ear. Then she’d demanded to know every detail, which I did not provide because some things were private.

She was planning to visit Redding in a few weeks, along with her mate Bastian. They’d already booked a room at the cute bed and breakfast on Main Street because they wanted the whole “mountain town experience” as she’d put it. I was both excited and nervous. Elle had become one of my dearest friends, but she was also high energy. Grump that he was, I wasn’t sure Axel was prepared for the full force of her vibrant personality.

Part of the reason for her coming was to venture into the cave and have a look at the knife for herself. We still hadn’t been back—I didn’t want to put Axel through that again so soon, even though I knew he was healing. But we needed a solution for it. Otherwise it would be stuck there for whoever found it next.

I set down my phone and got back to work. I couldn’t let Axel win. No way.

We worked in comfortable silence for a while, the only sounds the scrape of carving tools and the gentle bubbling of cider on the stove. Through the windows, I could see the autumn afternoon lengthening, shadows growing longer across the porch.

At one point, Axel stopped to serve us both a steaming mug of apple cider from the stove, which was amazing.

I made the final cuts on my creation, feeling rather proud of how I’d done. I’d chosen a classic jack-o’-lantern face—triangle eyes, nose, and a big toothy grin. Simple, but when done right, it was perfect. Halloween perfection.

“Done!” I announced, holding my pumpkin against my belly. I wasn’t ready to turn it around yet.

“Feckin’ finally.”

“What do you mean feckin’ finally?!” I mimicked, butchering his accent.

“Been adding extra carvings to mine for the last thirty minutes waiting on you.”

“Let me see.”

“Ladies first.”

“Fine.” I spun mine around. His gaze raked over it and gave nothing away. Completely emotionless. “Well? What does yours look like?”

His jaw flexed. Was he… “Are you trying not to…to laugh at me?! Oh my, God! You are!”

His eyes began dancing, lips twitching. “Wouldn’t dream of it, lass.”

“You are such a liar. I’ll have you know that this design is quintessential jack-o-lantern.”

“Uh huh. What happened to all that competitive Halloween spirit? All that bragging?”

“This—this is brag-worthy. It’s a jack-o-lantern!”

“Took you two hours to do that.” He was smiling now, his face lit with mirth.

“Oh yeah? Well—” I reached for the pumpkin guts in the bowl beside me and grabbed a handful, my fist closing around the gooey mess, then lobbed it at him. His eyes widened a fraction before it splattered all over his shirt then dripped down where he was leaning over the island.

His eyes turned yellow in an instant. “That was a bad idea, little witch.”

“Was it?!” I huffed, grabbing another glob and chucking it at him. This time he dodged and it sailed right past his face, landing against the backsplash above the stove.

Axel was around the island in a flash. Before I could blink, he’d slung me over his shoulder.

“Put me down,” I screeched, pounding my fists against his back.

“Or what?”

“Or—or I’ll use my magic and make you.”

“Uh huh.” His hand came down, smacking my ass. The sting made me whimper and I tried to squirm against him again. “Going to punish you for your bad behavior. But first, thought you’d like to see what I carved for you.” He walked me around the island. To the front of his pumpkin. He didn’t let me down, so I was forced to view it upside down.